Mattoon, IL Tornado, May 1917

Illinois' 3rd deadliest tornado disaster on record occurred on May 26, 1917. On that date, 101 people were killed across central Illinois, most of them in the Mattoon/Charleston area. Injuries totaled approximately 638.

Originally, this was believed to be a single tornado with a path 293 miles long, extending from the Mississippi River across from Louisiana, MO, all the way across central portions of Illinois and Indiana, ending near Mount Vernon, IN, over a total time span of 7 hours 20 minutes. This was later determined to be 4 to 8 separate tornadoes; the Illinois portion was approximately 155 miles (including times it was aloft), over a time of approximately 4 hours. The strongest part of the tornado, through Mattoon/Charleston, was later determined to be F4 intensity on the original Fujita scale. - The Mattoon/Charleston Tornado of May 26, 1917 at weather.gov